Peter spoiest van wagner



(No Model.)

P. S. VAN WAGNER. HOLDBAGK FOR THILLs. No. 551,013. Patented Dec. 10, 1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER SPOHN VAN WAGNER, OF STONY CREEK, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY P. VAN WAGNER, OF SAME PLACE.

HOLDBACK FOR T HILLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 551,013, dated December 10, 1895. Application filed March 22, 1895. Serial No. 542,839. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PETER SPoHN VAN \VAGNER,a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residing at Stony Creek, in the county of \Ventworth, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Holdbacks for Thills; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction of the same.

The invention relates to such improvements in holdbacks for thills as will possess the advantages of quick adjustment of the holdback-straps and instant releasement, so constructed as not to rattle, and, while possessing lightness and strength combined, is so formed as to prevent a horses tail from being caught in the hook, and in case of a horse becoming unmanageable,breaking the shafts, and running away the peculiar construction of the improved holdback-hook allows the holdback-strap to be released from the thills and frees the horse entirely from the vehicle, which is much better than if entangled with it and striking against his heels and endangering him and causing danger to other horses and vehicles.

My invention consists in a frame of brass or cast malleable iron having an elongated hook, with an open space under the hook, somewhat larger, in which is an oscillating block operated upon by a fiat spring pressing it upward against the breeching-strap ring at all points along the hook and also closing the space under the point of the hook and thereby preventing the horses tail from catching into the hook.

By reference to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l is a side elevation of my invention. is aview of the under side. view of the latch detached. view of the same.

In the drawings, A represents the outside frame, having a hook a, as shown, and an opening I) under the hook, somewhat longer than the hook itself also, two openings for Fig. 2

Fig. 4 is a top Fig. 3 is a sidescrews 0 to fasten it to the thills B and two openings d for the ends of the fiat spring 0 to pass through.

D is a block, of irregular curved form, as shown detached at Figs. 3 and 4, and provided with a curved bottom and top, as shown, and also two projections e e on the sides, which are placed in corresponding recessed lugs f f on the inside of the frame A, as shown in Fig. 2. The fiat steel spring 0 is placed under the said block, its ends passing through openings d d and resting in square-shaped recesses on the top of the frame A, which holds the said block up to its place and pushes it against the hook when the breeching-strap ring it is withdrawn, yet allowing the ring to be easily inserted under the point of the hook as the block yields and oscillates to admit it, and when drawn to the rear of the hook it is held there by the upward pressure of the spring 0 against the block until a forward movement of the breeching-strap withdraws the ring, which releases easily from the hook and is just as easily and quickly replaced.

9 g are curved openings in the lower part of the frame A, by which dust may have a means of exit.

Having thus described my device and its advantages, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A holdback for thills consisting of a hollow frame having internal recessed lugs, an elongated curved hook on the top of the frame an open space under the hook, an oscillating block having gudgeons sliding in the recessed lugs of the frame, and a flat spring without rivets set into recesses in the frame and made to press upward on the block to cause it to fill the space under the hook, so as to leave no projection for a horses tail to catch into, all substantially as specified.

Dated at Hamilton, Ontario, this 21st day of February, 1895.

P. S. VAN WAGNER.

In presence of WM. BRUCE, W. HERMAN. 

